Carriage & Wagon Works News

Revarnish of Met Composite No.368 of 1898

December 29th 2005

With some members of the team coming down every Wednesday in addition to the usual Saturdays, sufficient coats of varnish had been applied by the end of Saturday 17th December that the coach could be shunted back into its close-coupled formation with the other two Met coaches, ready to take its place as one of the two vintage sets for Boxing Day.

The photo from Andrew Strongitharm shows the coach at Sheffield Park on 29th December.

December 3rd 2005

Seen here on 3rd December, members of the BASH team, following completion of repairs, and careful preparation work, apply the first fresh varnish to the west side of the carriage. The east side had already received a full coat of goldsize (as a primer) on the bare wood by this stage.

November 2005

After 3 and a half years in service since overhaul, this carriage was overdue a re-varnish, and in addition some teak panels had split. Five of the panels have been removed and repaired, and another replaced entirely. This has entailed removing quite a few of the mouldings, and several other mouldings also required re-bedding. Several hundred screws have been used to provide better fixing for the mouldings, which were showing a tendency to come loose, and all the sunken screw heads have been plugged with specially cut teak plugs. The roof has been re-painted, and the sides prepared carefully for a complete revarnish, which has involved stripping the varnish back to bare wood in places.

Damage done to the varnish-work and gold-leaf lettering had been repaired earlier this year, but the vinyl used by the film company had affected the varnish, so further remedial work, including significant attention to the gold leaf work was required. In addition, where the mouldings had been removed, the lining around the edges required significant further work.

All of this work has been undertaken by volunteers from the BASH team who originally undertook the restoration, starting in late October, to a tight time-scale, since the carriage is required back in service on Boxing Day. By the end of November, all the repairs were completed, allowing a clear run for the several coats of varnish then required.